Fever (Little Willie John song)

In May 1958, Peggy Lee recorded a cover version of the song in Hollywood, which featured significantly rewritten lyrics composed by Lee herself without credit.[20][21] "Fever" was not included on Lee's album Things Are Swingin' when it was first released in 1959; however it was listed as a bonus track on its 2004 reissue release.[20] The uncopyrighted lyrics by Lee featured historical invocations (including the verses beginning "Romeo loved Juliet," and "Captain Smith and Pocahontas") and are now generally thought of as a standard part of the song; they have been included in most subsequent covers of "Fever".[2]

Lee's cover, arranged by the singer herself with arranger/conductor Jack Marshall, was a slower-tempo version than the original; it was described as being in "torchy lounge" mode, accompanied only by bass (played by Joe Mondragon) and a very limited drum set (played in part with fingers by Shelly Manne), while the finger snaps were provided either by the singer herself, by Howard Roberts, the guitarist for the date, who set aside his guitar for this number, or possibly even by the producer, Dave Cavanaugh.[22] Lee's rendition was further described as "smooth, sultry".[23] It is written in the key of A Minor in a medium swing tempo with 135 beats per minute; Lee's vocals span from the musical note of G₃ to B₄.[24]

A writer of the website NPR deemed "Fever" as Lee's "most memorable tune" and considered it to be "slinky and inimitable". He went on to note that it displayed characteristics which were most remembered about the singer – "her playful delivery, charisma and sexuality".[25] John Bush from the website AllMusic opined that the singer excelled in sounding "sizzling" in the song.[26] John Fordham writing for The Guardian felt that the "heated" atmosphere heard on Lee's version of "Fever", "has an underlying suggestion that the person raising the temperature for her right now doesn't have to be the one doing it next week".[27]

Lee's version peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and spent a total of 12 weeks on that chart.[28] It reached a peak of number five on the UK Singles Chart, where it first appeared on August 15, 1958. A reissue of the single charted again in 1992, appearing at number 75 and staying for only one week.[29][30] Elsewhere in Europe, Lee's "Fever" peaked at number eight on January 3, 1959 on the Dutch Singles Chart in Netherlands for five consecutive weeks before falling off the chart.[31] The song also peaked at number two on the Australian Singles Chart compiled by Kent Music Report and emerged as the twentieth best-selling single of 1958 in that country.[32]

"Fever" was nominated in the categories for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Vocal Performance at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards held in 1959.[33][34] The track became Lee's signature song and her best-known work in addition to becoming her most successful hit.[6][20][35] It was ranked at number 100 in the book and the accompanying list 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery.[36] Joey Cohn ranked it as the tenth-best jazz vocal in a list of 50 Great Jazz Vocals on NPR.[37]

In 1992, American singer and songwriter Madonna recorded a cover version of "Fever" for her fifth studio album, Erotica. She served as a producer for the song along with Shep Pettibone. Madonna was in the studio putting down tracks for the album and had just recorded a song called "Goodbye to Innocence".[40] She was going through the final stages of production on the song and suddenly started singing the lyrics to "Fever" over "Goodbye to Innocence". Madonna liked the way it sounded so much that she recorded it.[40] In September 2008, Madonna's version of "Fever" was used in television promos for the fifth season of Desperate Housewives.[41]

According to author Rikky Rooksby, Madonna changed the composition of the original version by adding drum rhythms, accompanied by a beatbox sound like snare drums. Removing the chord progression of the original, Madonna introduces original lyrics into the song. Instrumentation of the track includes strings, marimba and finger-pops at various intervals throughout. Rooksby noticed that Madonna sang with a distant and disembodied voice, and relegated it to the dance music accompanying the lyrics.[42]

Author Rikky Rooksby, described it as "unsexy", and called it a "sterile track" which is "certainly misplaced as the second track of [Erotica]".[42] The New York Times editor Stephen Holden wrote that "The album's softer moments include a silky hip-hop arrangement of 'Fever'".[43] The Baltimore Sun's J. D. Considine praised the song as a "sassy, house-style remake" of the original version. He noted that when Madonna and the team of producers that worked on the album "push beyond the expected... [it] really heats up, providing a sound that is body-conscious in the best sense of the term", exemplifying his statements with "Fever".[44] Alfred Soto of Stylus Magazine wrote that this song has its unique, idiosyncratic energy which he compared with material by Joni Mitchell from her album Blue (1971).[45] A writer from Billboard called the song a "house-inflected rendition" and noted it was single-worthy.[46] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly criticized Madonna's voice as "souless": "You and Shep sure do a bang-up job — pun intended — transforming 'Fever,' that old Peggy Lee hit, into a techno drone, but listen to the parched sound emitted from your throat on such tracks. It's cold, deadened, remote."[47] Similarly, The Washington Post's Richard Harrington deemed it a "cool mechanical recitation in which more attention is paid to the pulse of the music than that of the heart."[48]

Jude Rogers from The Guardian called it an "unnecessary trance-era update of pop’s most achingly simple song about sex"; nonetheless, she placed the song at number 72 on her ranking of Madonna's singles, in honor of her 60th birthday.[49] In August 2018, Billboard picked it as the singer's 66th greatest single; "while most versions of this classic smolder, Madonna gets distant and detached, delivering an icy club banger that sounds less like a torch song from yesteryear and more like a soundtrack for anonymous encounters that would make Ms. Lee blush".[50] Slant Magazine' Sal Cinquemani opined that it's "Madonna’s vocal performance that’s the real star here [...] she may lack Peggy Lee’s command, but she exudes a detached confidence and control that is the pitch-perfect embodiment of Erotica's main thesis: love hurts".[51] From the Dallas Observer, Hunter Hauk deemed it "subtly soulful and custom made for Madonna's pre-vocal-lesson voice".[52]

Although "Fever" was never officially released as a single in the United States, it became a dance hit, becoming Madonna's 15th song to hit number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play. It topped the chart for the issue dated May 15, 1993 in its seventh week of ascending.[53] In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at its peak position of number six on the UK Singles Chart on the issue dated April 3, 1993, and had sold 86,077 copies by August 2008.[54][55] It peaked at number one on the Finnish Singles Chart on April 15, 1993.[56] In Ireland it entered the top ten of the Irish Singles Chart, peaking at the position of six and charting for four weeks.[57] Elsewhere, it peaked at numbers 12 in Italy, 17 in New Zealand, 22 on the Ultratop chart of the Flanders region in Belgium, 31 in France and 51 in Australia.[58]

The music video for "Fever", directed by Stéphane Sednaoui, was shot on April 10–11, 1993 at Greenwich Studios in Miami, Florida,[59] and received its world premiere on May 11, 1993, on MTV. It has since been made commercially available on the DVD collection, The Video Collection 93:99.[60] The music video alternately features Madonna with a red wig and silver bodypaint in a variety of costumes dancing in front of funky, kaleidoscopic backgrounds. It showcases her posing like ancient goddesses. She is enveloped in a flame-like atmosphere and eventually burns up. According to Sednaoui, he wanted to portray the singer "like a provocative saint, somebody that speaks out and tells the truth, and is ready to burn for it"; he also recalled that the executives from Maverick wanted to do "something that's not the [Madonna] we know – more pop, more disco, more club [...] that's why she went all the way, like, 'OK, let's paint'".[61] Charles Aaron writing for Spin magazine classified the clip as "dub".[62]

To start the promotion for Erotica, Madonna performed "Fever" and "Bad Girl" on Saturday Night Live in January 1993.[63][64] During the 1000th The Arsenio Hall Show, Madonna performed the original version of "Fever" accompanied by a band, wearing a black classic dress and smoking a cigarette.[65] Madonna also performed "Fever" on the 1993 Girlie Show World Tour as the second song from the setlist. After "Erotica", the singer partially strips and proceeds to straddle and dances suggestively with two half-naked male dancers. At the end of the song, Madonna and the two backup dancers descend into a literal ring of fire.[66][67] On October 8, 2015 Madonna performed an a cappella version of "Fever" during the Saint Paul stop of her Rebel Heart Tour.[68] On November 25, 2019, Madonna performed an a cappella version of "Fever" on her Madame X Tour.

American singer Beyoncé included her version of "Fever" on multiple releases. Her original recording of the song was included on the soundtrack album for the 2003 American musical dramedy film, The Fighting Temptations, in which she also had a leading role.[81][82] The song was also featured in the film itself, during a scene in which the character Beyoncé portrayed, named Lilly, sang the song in a nightclub while her eventual love interest Darrin (played by Cuba Gooding, Jr.) watches her.[83][84] Beyoncé's version was produced by Damon Elliott and was recorded by her while she was still working on the 2002 film Austin Powers in Goldmember. Elliott suggested to the singer to record "Fever" as it was one of his favorite songs. When she got a role in The Fighting Temptations, the song seemed "perfect" for it as stated by Elliot.[85] Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine provided a positive review for the cover, saying: "The seductive iciness of Peggy Lee's 'Fever' is successfully transplanted with a gumbo sound and sexy Southern comfort."[86]

Beyoncé appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on September 17, 2003 to promote The Fighting Temptations with a live performance of "Fever".[87] In November 2003, the song was included in the set list of the singer's first headlining solo Dangerously in Love Tour. Beyoncé was backed by four male dancers dressed in white, performing a choreography with her. In a review of the show, Dave Simpson from The Guardian felt that the performance of "Fever" was "a note perfect if pointless version" of the original.[88] In 2004, the song was included on the live album Live at Wembley which was filmed during a London concert as part of the tour.[89] Beyoncé's original recording was additionally included on the track-listing of her first mixtape Speak My Mind released in 2005.[90]

After releasing her first fragrance Heat, Beyoncé re-recorded her version of "Fever" as promotion for the fragrance, using the song in its advertisements.[91] The re-recorded 2010 version of the song was produced by Chink Santana and Beyoncé herself. It was released for digital download on the iTunes Store in the US on February 8, 2010.[92][93] The next day, it was released in the United Kingdom.[94] In February the following year, "Fever" was included on the track-listing of the extended play (EP) Heat, a limited CD released with the perfume.[95]

As promotion for the fragrance, a TV commercial for Heat was directed by Jake Nava, who had previously worked with Beyoncé on various of her music videos.[96][97] The commercial features Beyoncé in a red satin dress sweating in a steamy room while the 2010 cover version of "Fever" plays in the background.[98] Throughout the clip, she is seen lying naked in the middle of a room, touching her body, dancing and leaving a trail of fire as she touches a wall. The commercial concludes with Beyoncé walking away from the camera and melting the floor with her footprints. During the end, she turns and says "Catch the fever", the tagline of the fragrance.[99]

In an interview with Women's Wear Daily, the singer described the sexual tone of the video stating: "My sexiest moments are when I'm just getting out of the tub or the shower and I'm clean, so I wanted to incorporate that in the ads. The dress was this liquid-y satin. The song Fever I did years ago and always loved it. [For the commercial] I got to sing it a bit more whispery, more natural."[96] The silky red dress she wears in the video has been noted for exposing partial cleavage.[96] The commercial for the fragrance found controversy in the United Kingdom with the Advertising Standards Authority where it was banned from daytime TV rotation for its "sexy imagery".[100][101]

In the 2007 film Spider-Man 3, Peter steals the show when a jazz band in a club attempts to perform it.